Short Cuts and Extended Techniques: Rethinking Relations between Technology and Educational Theory

Thumlert, Kurt; de Castell, Suzanne; Jenson, Jennifer

Educational Philosophy and Theory, v47 n8 p786-803 2015

Building upon a recent call to renew actor-network theory (ANT) for educational research, this article reconsiders relations between technology and educational theory. Taking cues from actor-network theorists, this discussion considers the technologically-mediated networks in which learning actors are situated, acted upon, and acting, and traces the novel positions of creative capacity and participation that emerging media may enable. Whereas traditional theories of educational technology tend to focus on the harmonization of new technologies with extant curricular goals and educational practices, an "educational theory of technology" looks to novel forms of technologically-mediated learning experience--from production pedagogies to role play in the virtual--to make visible the surprising relations, techniques, and opportunities that emerging media, and their attendant social contexts, may offer educational research.